Year 7: Meant to Be

Chapter 63: November 2017

Dear Dana,

I can't believe it's been two months since leaving the Center. It's been so crazy here; I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and write you until now.

Remember how I told you about my friends, Brianna and Kara? Well, Brianna's been seeing this guy named Stanley, and she's definitely in love with him. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is. I've been working my matchmaking magic, and I expect they'll be together by the end of the month.

Luckily Kara's settled with Jonathan. I don't think I'd have time to manipulate both of my friends' love lives while simultaneously studying for my N.E.W.T.s AND performing all my Head Girl duties.

At least Joe is Head Boy. Oh, I guess I hadn't mentioned that before, since I only found out on the train. But yeah, Joe got Head Boy, which is great, because we get to work together all the time. If he weren't Head Boy, I worry that we wouldn't have any time to spend together.

Write me back soon! I want to hear all about things back in America.

Your friend,

Victoire

"What are you working on?" Brianna demanded, looking up from her homework.

"Just a letter to my friend Dana," Victoire replied. "You know, the girl from America that I met at the Center this summer?"

"Why are you writing to her?" Brianna scoffed.

Victoire frowned. "She's my friend, Brianna."

Brianna crossed her arms. "I thought Kara and I were your friends."

Victoire rolled her eyes. "Of course you're my best friends, and I love you both dearly. That doesn't mean I can't have another friend in America."

Brianna sniffed. "Well as long as you remember that we come first."

Victoire laughed and shook her head as she finished the letter and rolled it up. Brianna could be so silly sometimes.

"I'm heading up to the owlery," Victoire declared. "You need anything mailed?"

"Nah," Brianna shook her head. "You go ahead, I need to finish this essay."

Packing her things, Victoire got up and headed out into the corridor, where she ran into Joe.

"Hey!" Victoire said in surprise. "I thought you had a meeting with Professor Abbott-Longbottom?"

"I did," Joe replied. "It was an hour ago."

"Oh, right," Victoire nodded, realizing that it was much later than she'd thought. "Hey I'd better hurry. I don't want to be caught out past curfew."

"Where are you going?" Joe wondered.

"Just to the owlery," Victoire replied. "I have a letter to send."

"Oh, I'll come with you," Joe volunteered. "I need a bit of fresh air."

Together, Victoire and Joe headed down to the Entrance Hall and then out onto the grounds. The owlery wasn't too far, but it was still a little bit of a trek.

"So, I've been thinking," Joe said as they approached the tower structure that was the owlery. "We've been going out a while now, right?"

"I guess so," Victoire agreed. The two had started going out the previous spring, so it had been about seven months. Then again, maybe it had only been five months. Was Victoire supposed to count the two summer months they'd been apart?

"And we're both seventeen," Joe continued. "Technically speaking, we're both adults."

"Right," Victoire agreed. She had a feeling she knew where the conversation was going, and felt her stomach start to twist itself into a series of knots.

Joe came to a stop and moved to stand in front of Victoire. They were right at the base of the owlery.

"So, I was thinking," Joe said softly, reaching forward and placing his arms around Victoire's waist, pulling her in. "That maybe it might be time to take our relationship to the next level."

Victoire swallowed thickly, and then found Joe pulling her in and kissing her, softly at first, and then more passionately.

Victoire broke the kiss and pushed him away.

"What, right here?" she demanded, looking around. It was late, almost curfew in fact, and they were out on the grounds in plain view of the castle.

"No, not here," Joe shook his head. "Not now. But sometime. Soon."

"Oh," Victoire said, stalling. "Well that's certainly… something to think about. It's a big step."

"It is," Joe agreed, pulling Victoire close again. "And I'm ready to take it. With you."

"Can I think about it?" Victoire asked nervously.

Joe nodded. "Of course," he agreed readily. "Take all the time you need."

"Okay," Victoire nodded, stepping back. The two stood awkwardly for a moment until Victoire remembered why they were at the owlery in the first place. "I'm gonna go and… mail my letter," she muttered, ducking through the door that led into the tower.

To her relief, Joe didn't follow her inside, instead electing to wait for her outside.

Suddenly, Victoire had so many thoughts and feelings rolling around inside of her. Joe wanted to make things more serious. It was obvious what he meant – the question was whether Victoire wanted to or not.

It wasn't as though Joe and Victoire didn't do anything. They were seventeen years old, and in a relationship, so of course they'd done stuff. But up until now, Victoire had not yet slept with Joe.

She'd slept with Teddy, back when they'd been dating. But that hadn't been until they'd been dating for over a year. And really, hers and Teddy's relationship extended even further back than that, as they'd been close for years before they'd started dating. Victoire felt like she was only starting to get to know Joe, and just wasn't sure she was ready to take that next step with him. She wasn't like Brianna. She couldn't just sleep around with guys whenever she pleased.

After mailing her letter, Victoire emerged from the owlery and she and Joe returned to school together. Thankfully, Joe didn't mention anything about their earlier conversation, and instead the two discussed Brianna and Stanley, who were getting closer and closer every day.

When they returned to school, Victoire and Joe said goodnight, and Joe headed downstairs while Victoire headed up, still thinking about Joe's question. Now that the subject had come up, Victoire tried to imagine when she would be ready for that next step and realized that she wasn't sure she ever would be. The truth was that she liked Joe a lot, but she didn't love him. She'd only loved one guy in her life, and it had been Teddy.

That didn't necessarily mean that she wouldn't ever love Joe though. Victoire decided that she just needed to give it some more time. Her relationship with Teddy had been intense. It was bound to take a while for her to open up like that again with someone new.

VvVvVvVvVvV

Dear Victoire,

I was so glad to hear from you! Things here at Illvermorny have been pretty hectic. My friend Sabrina broke up with her boyfriend on the first day of school, and she's been a basket case ever since. And then my other friend Justina started dating Sabrina's ex, and the two of them have been fighting non-stop since the start of the semester.

Sadly, I'm still boyfriend-less. But that's alright, I have way too much to be doing to be worrying about a boyfriend. I don't know how you do it. With friends, school, not to mention worrying about next year. I can't believe application deadlines are as early as the end of the month! I've already got my application in for the Dublin Center, of course, but I need to make sure I have enough back-ups in case it doesn't work out.

I'm sure you're on top of your applications. And you're sure to get accepted wherever you apply. Head Girl is going to look great on your resumes. I wish I had something like that on my resume. I tried running for Student Body President, but I lost to Chloe Warren. She's basically the most popular girl in school. Democracy is great and all, but when you get a bunch of teenagers to vote, it just ends up being a popularity contest.

Anyhow, I've got to go study. Write me back!

Dana

When Victoire came to the end of the letter, she found herself starting to panic. Applications? She hadn't even thought about applications yet. It was only the first term… she'd thought she had until the spring to worry about what she was going to do next year.

"Kara, have you already applied for jobs for next year?" Victoire asked, looking up from the letter.

"No," Kara frowned. "It's a little early, don't you think?"

"Phew," Victoire breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, absolutely, I mean, it's only November."

"Yeah," Kara agreed. "And it's not like I'm applying for some prestigious internship with an application deadline. I'm going to be applying to work in various daycares."

"What do you mean?" Victoire asked.

"You know I want to work with children," Kara reminded Victoire. "I'm going to be a daycare educator."

"No, I mean about deadlines," Victoire insisted.

"Oh," Kara shrugged. "I just mean, like if I was applying to the Healer training program or something, then I'd definitely have my application in already. But what I want to do isn't as high profile. Which actually brings up an excellent point about the value of childcare in today's day and age. Taking care of children is just as important, if not more important – "

"Save the speech for Jonathan," Victoire interjected. "I have bigger things to worry about."

"Like what?" Kara frowned.

"My applications!" Victoire cried. "I was going to apply for a fellowship at the Dublin Center, but I thought I had loads of time to worry about that."

"Oh no," Kara shook her head. "You should get that sorted out, like, yesterday. The Dublin Center is a very prestigious program for herbologists and just because you got that internship last summer, it doesn't guarantee you a spot next year. Especially if you send in your application late."

Kara was right. Victoire didn't have any time to lose. Frantically, she gathered her things and raced out of the common room and down to Professor Longbottom's office.

"Victoire?" Professor Longbottom looked up when Victoire knocked on his door. "How can I help you?"

"It's urgent," Victoire said, dropping down into a seat in front of her Professor's desk. "I just found out that the deadlines for applications for herbology fellowships might be coming up soon and I haven't submitted anything yet."

"Oh!" Professor Longbottom said in surprise. "Well you have left things a little late… I would have thought you'd have learned the application deadlines on your internship over the summer."

"Apparently not," Victoire muttered, not in the mood.

"Right, well…" Professor Longbottom started to root around in his desk. "Here we are!" he exclaimed, pulling out a stack of pamphlets. "Alright… potions… transfiguration… experimental charms… dragon training… ah yes, here we are, herbology fellowships."

He handed Victoire the stack of pamphlets containing information about different herbology related fellowships, application deadlines and application requirements. "That should get you going," he declared. "Let me know if you need any help with your applications."

"Thanks, Professor," Victoire said in relief. She hadn't actually missed the deadlines yet. She just had to hurry in sending them out.

VvVvVvVvVvV

Over the next few days, Victoire devoted all her time to applying to herbology fellowships around the country. She started with the Dublin Center's program, but as Dana had said in her letter, it would be silly not to have some back-ups. Victoire decided that the best course of action would be to apply to all the programs, and that way she'd be bound to get accepted somewhere. After everything that had happened last year, Victoire couldn't afford not to get accepted anywhere.

"The Ministry of Magic?" Brianna frowned, looking over at the application Victoire was currently working on.

"They have greenhouses there," Victoire defended. "Well, not actually on the premises, but they have a secondary location where they grow different plants."

"What do they use them for?" Brianna frowned.

Victoire shrugged. "I don't know, it says that information is classified. Maybe if I get the job, I'll find out."

"You don't really want to work for the Ministry though, do you?" Brianna asked. "You wouldn't be innovating, you'd be a grunt, growing magical plants day and night."

"I'd rather be at the Dublin Center doing herbological research," Victoire admitted. "This is just a fallback."

Brianna nodded. "That's smart," she said. "That's why I'm not only applying to WWN."

"Oh yeah?" Victoire asked, curious. Brianna had made it clear that the Wizarding Wireless Network was where she was destined to work, and that nothing would stop her from achieving her goal of being on the radio some day.

"Yeah," Brianna nodded. "I'm also applying for an internship at WWNJr."

"The wireless network for kids?" Victoire asked in confusion. "But you hate children."

"True," Brianna nodded. "But if I get in there, I can work my way up to the real WWN."

Victoire rolled her eyes. It wasn't much of a backup plan, but once Brianna had made up her mind about something, there was no stopping her.

"Well good luck with that," Victoire declared.

"Thanks," Brianna replied. "I've got time though. Applications aren't due until February."

"I'm jealous," Victoire sighed. "These are all due by the end of the month."

"That's rough," Brianna said. "Good thing you wrote to that friend of yours in America, or you might have missed the deadlines."

"Don't remind me," Victoire grimaced.

VvVvVvVvVvV

Finally, only three days before the end of the month, Victoire finished her last application. It had been stressful, getting them, all completed, but now that is was over, Victoire was glad to have it behind her. All she had to do now was wait to hear back, which probably wouldn't happen until May or even June.

"I'm so proud of you, Victoire," Joe said as the two met in the prefect's lounge to go over the patrol schedule for the remainder of term.

"Thanks," Victoire said. "I'm proud of me too."

"So… now that that's all sorted… have you given any more thought to our conversation from a few weeks back?" Joe asked.

Victoire felt her heartrate pick up as the uncomfortable topic was once again put out in the open. She'd hoped that if she didn't bring it up, neither would Joe, but it seemed that he wasn't going to forget about it.

"Oh, well, a little I guess," Victoire replied honestly.

"And?" Joe wondered.

Victoire took a deep breath, worried that Joe might not take this well.

"I don't think I'm ready for what you're asking," she revealed. "Not yet anyway."

"Not yet?" Joe prompted.

Victoire shook her head. "I'm not saying I'll never be ready, but right now… I'm happy with the way things are, and I don't want to change them."

Joe was quiet for a moment and then eventually nodded his head.

"I can respect that," he agreed. "Any idea when you will be ready?"

Victoire found herself laughing and she playfully slapped Joe on the arm. "I'll let you know, alright?" she suggested. She would be much more comfortable if it was agreed that she would be in control of deciding if and when they would take that next step. When Joe agreed, Victoire felt a weight lift off her chest.

Joe leaned forward, as if to kiss Victoire, and she found herself leaning away. Caught off guard, Joe lost his balance for a moment and almost toppled out of his chair, but he righted himself and then busied himself with the patrol schedule.

She wasn't sure why she hadn't wanted to kiss Joe in that moment. When he'd moved closer, her body had moved away instinctually.

"We're still good though, right?" he asked, glancing sideways at Victoire.

Victoire nodded. "Yeah, of course," she agreed.

When he reached over to grasp her hand with his, it felt clunky and awkward. Not at all romantic like it had before. Victoire figured she was probably just on edge from the uncomfortable conversation. Things would surely go back to normal in a few days.

Victoire pulled her hand from Joe's and started shuffling papers around on the table in front of them. The fact that she didn't want to sleep with Joe didn't mean anything. Just because she'd slept with Teddy didn't mean she should sleep with just anyone. Not that Joe was just anyone. He just wasn't Teddy.

But Teddy was ancient history. He'd broken up with Victoire, and she'd moved on. She was with Joe now.

Suddenly, Victoire scooted her chair closer to Joe and reached to grab his hand in her own again, squeezing hard. Just because she didn't want to sleep with Joe didn't mean she needed to act weird around him. They were still dating, after all.

She leaned forward to kiss him, trying to stop herself from thinking about Teddy – trying not to think about how soft Teddy's hands were. They weren't at all like Joe's which were callused from playing Quidditch. Victoire reminded herself again that she wasn't supposed to be thinking about Teddy. About the way that he played with her hair, and the way that he kissed her neck, and the way that he knew how to make Victoire feel like she was floating on a cloud.

Victoire pulled away and shook her head, trying to get Teddy out of it, but she couldn't. She scooted her chair away from Joe again, unnerved by her inability to shake Teddy from her mind.

"Is everything alright?" Joe asked, sensing that something weird was going on.

"Everything's fine," Victoire muttered. "Let's just get the schedule done so we can go."